CFPB sues payment processor for supporting internet-based scams

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued former payments processor BrightSpeed Solutions Inc. and its founder and former CEO, Kevin Howard, for knowingly processing payments for companies engaged in fraud.

Bright Speed was a privately owned, third-party payment processor founded in 2015. It ceased operations in March 2019.

The CFPB's lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleges that from 2016 to 2018, the defendants knowingly processed payments for firms that purported to offer technical-support services over the internet but instead tricked customers into buying "expensive and unnecessary" antivirus services or software.

The bureau said the defendants processed $71 million worth of remotely created check payments for more than 100 client companies and that they continued to process the checks even though they were aware of nearly 1,000 consumer complaints and several police inquires.

The CFPB claims the defendants' actions violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act 2010 and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

The lawsuit seeks injunction against BrightSpeed and Howard, as well as damages, redress to consumers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and the imposition of civil money penalties.